Putin's birthmother was unfaithful
She is the role model for Russian women: The children's rights ombudsman Maria Lwowa-Belowa, married to a priest, mother of a large family, advocate of traditional values. Now, however, she has left her family, her reputation has "shrunk like prickly fur," as an observer notes.
Maria Lwowa-Belowa, the children's rights ombudsman of Russia, is a role model for women in Putin's new Russia: She is married to an orthodox priest, with whom she raises five biological and five more children - among them a teenager from Mariupol. Due to the kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russia, she has been sanctioned by the EU, and the International Criminal Court for Human Rights has issued a warrant for her arrest, along with Putin. This is a kind of knighthood for her. However, she is now making headlines due to her private life.
According to the independent portal Verstka, she is in a relationship with the orthodox media magnate and billionaire Konstantin Malofeev. Although Lwowa-Belowa has not yet announced her separation from her husband, the priest Pavel Kogelman: Rumors of a relationship have been around for a long time, and Verstka now shows a photo of her publicly holding hands with her lover. He appears to be a reliable supporter of the Kremlin: According to the report, he calls Putin a "miracle" for the state, also financed fighters in southeastern Ukraine, and wishes for the monarchy to return. For him, Ukraine is a "man-made construct built on the ruins of the Russian Empire."
The official and the oligarch reportedly took care of children in the Donbass together. According to Verstka, Malofeev and Lwowa-Belowa traveled together to the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk in February 2023. For Ukrainian children, they engaged in a project with the questionable name "Happy Childhood."
For Russia, which, under Putin, increasingly emphasizes traditional family values and encourages women to have children early and often - despite the relatively free private lives of some elites - the whole story is somewhat puzzling. Since Lwowa-Belowa became children's ombudsman in 2021, her large family has frequently appeared in the media. She and her husband publicly spoke about traditional values, faith, orthodox marriage, and foster parenthood.
In February of this year, a film about the family "of the Priest and the Main Mother of the Land" was reportedly aired on the church-affiliated television channel Spas. In a lengthy interview, Kogelman recounts how he first noticed his future wife in a church choir in his hometown of Penza, how he tried to impress her with his knowledge of Orthodoxy, how they decided on their first adoptive children together, and how he gave up his career as a computer programmer to serve the church.
Their new relationship may reportedly worsen the existing tensions between the ultraconservative billionaire, who condemns the "godless" EU, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, according to a report. The whole situation is indeed complicated. "I think it will all clear up, but the question is how," quotes Verstka a religion scholar close to the Church. "The elite has its own morals, its own rules - and the Church covers it up in general, no one needs a scandal. In fact, the fact that she is a priest's wife was once a big part of her political brand, but it has shrunk like a bristly fur now." Since she is now facing international court proceedings, she cannot be abandoned.
Their ex-husband, Priest Kogelman, incidentally leads a family psychological service since 2023 according to Verstka. Its task: helping couples in crisis situations and preventing divorces.
- Despite being sanctioned by the EU and having a warrant for her arrest issued by the International Criminal Court for Human Rights due to the kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russia, Maria Lwowa-Belowa, the children's rights ombudsman of Russia, is reportedly in a relationship with orthodox media magnate and billionaire Konstantin Malofeev, who is a known supporter of Putin's policies and has a controversial stance towards Ukraine.
- In the midst of Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine and allegations of war crimes, Maria Lwowa-Belowa's private life has become a topic of interest, with rumors of an affair with Malofeev leading to a potential scandal that could further strain Russia's relations with the international community.
- As the International Court of Justice prepares to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, the political implications of Maria Lwowa-Belowa's relationship with Malofeev are becoming increasingly complex, as the couple's actions could potentially implicate high-ranking Russian officials in international politics.
